Missing boy found, playing with stuffed animals inside machine

Kael Ireland, playing with the stuffed animals inside the “Bear Claw” at Madsen’s/Photo courtesy of Madsen’s Bowling and Billiards

He wasn’t missing. He was playing with toys.

It was the location that surprised his mother.

Lincoln police say a three-year-old reported missing by his mother was found safe and unharmed inside a toy crane machine called the “Bear Claw” at a local bowling alley.

Police spokeswoman Katie Flood says a sergeant was talking with the worried mother when a nearby resident reported seeing a child inside nearby Madsen’s Bowling and Billiards. The sergeant went to Madsen and found the boy, Kael Ireland, inside the machine.

“The boy was completely content, uninjured, and playing with the toys,” Flood tells Nebraska Radio Network affiliate KLIN.

Getting in is one thing. Getting out, quite another.

Flood says a quick telephone call helped.

“Apparently, Madsen’s employees were able to contact the vending machine company and they opened the door to get the boy out,” Flood says.

The boy didn’t return home empty-handed. Madsen gave him a toy from the machine.